


Bath Time and Hot Springs

by sablelab



Category: Outlander, Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Book 1: Outlander, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:15:38
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26742748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sablelab/pseuds/sablelab
Summary: This story is told in two parts and is inspired by Chapter 41 … “From the Womb of the Earth” … One is current, and one is reminiscing of Jamie and Claire’s time in thehot springs at the Abbey.I hope you enjoy.
Relationships: James Fraser/Claire Fraser
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	Bath Time and Hot Springs

**Author's Note:**

> This is a complete work of fiction; the characters are not my own but some of the text is inspired by the last chapter in the book **OUTLANDER.** The first person conversation in italics was used and some text was taken from … pp 857-863. 
> 
> The picture is a * Manip by @genoacedo.

#  **Bath Time and Hot Springs**

“Sassenach … Move forward lass so that I may climb in behind ye.”

Jamie adroitly slipped into the warm soothing water, his legs straddling Claire’s as he settled himself comfortably into the bathtub. He sat behind his wife admiring her naked form with much awe, wonder and lust. The sight of Claire’s flushed skin from the warm water suddenly made him catch his breath. Positioning himself comfortably in the water the sight of his wife’s ever so soft skin was too tempting not to touch. Jamie’s eyes caressed her back running his eyes from the damp tendrils of her curly hair that had escaped her topknot and were now resting on her shoulders, to the delicate indentation of her backbone protruding a little though her porcelain skin. The urge to kiss a path along her spine was oh so tempting, but instead he ran the tip of his finger ever so gently over each bump. The touch of his fingertips to her skin felt like many little individual kisses had anointed her flesh. Claire shivered and leaned her head forward a little thus bending her back for Jamie’s further tutelage. As her head fell forward, so too did more of her tresses exposing her beautiful long neck to Jamie’s gaze. The touch of his hands, as he laid them to her collarbone to separate her hair so that he could caress her neck, caused a sigh to escape her lips. 

“Ahhh.”

The audible, yet evocative moan filled the silence in the bathroom. Jamie’s touch was electric and Claire shivered as his fingers slowly caressed her exposed neck. The electricity building between them was so powerful it became dangerous for her to even think. _Why did Jamie’s touch affect her so much?_ The lightest to the most magical sensation of his touch filled her heart to bursting. Surely, they would die here in the water with the electricity their bodies were producing. After all water and electricity did not mix … it was an extremely dangerous combination. Claire, however, couldn’t help the way she was feeling … how Jamie was making her feel. His touch was just too much. When he bent his head and she felt the light touch of his moist lips to her skin she nearly melted into a liquid puddle right there in the water. Jamie trailed his lips across Claire’s shoulder blades moving her hair from one side to the other as his lips sought to anoint her damp skin. The gentle nip of his teeth as his mouth sought the side of her neck to caress lovingly was her undoing. She reached up one hand and held his head close to her as she angled her head just so for him to better stroke the erogenous zones he teased so well.

Jamie’s wanton hands ran down the sides of Claire’s silken skin as slowly but surely he pulled his wife back close towards his own body until her fevered skin lay against his powerful chest. Sighing, Claire nestled her weakened torso back against her husband’s powerful, virile chest and rested her head contentedly. She could feel Jamie’s heartbeat escalating with every breath they took and when he placed his hand where hers lay, he too could feel the accelerated beating of her own heart as well. The thumping of their two hearts in rhythm was a powerful aphrodisiac and Claire felt as if her heart would burst through her skin.

The water rose in the bath with their combined weights and lapped at their raised knees while caressing their flesh in the gentle swaying liquid. Jamie positioned his feet underneath Claire’s legs raising them to rest upon his own and thus propelled her backside into a more intimate position against his groin. He sighed with satisfaction as he felt his wife relax against him and when he leaned back against the porcelain bath Claire followed and melted into his body. Jamie was at peace as he trailed his hands over the sensuous curves of the body he could read like Braille.

“Ahhh … my Sassenach … I do love ye so,” he breathed against her lobe anointing the shell of her ear with the gentlest of kisses. 

Sighing in sheer bliss, Claire could feel the sensation of Jamie’s hands bathing away her stress, eliminating every tension with a stroke of his wonderful fingers across her wet, slick skin. His hands slid along her arms and thighs dancing across her skin with intent but in a leisurely manner as if he was mapping the contours of her body to memory. His touch was doing all sorts of things to her and her body responded accordingly. Every touch, every movement caused a tidal wave of emotion to wash over her. Jamie was making love to her in the bath and she was blissfully a willing recipient. Her skin was already flushed with the warm water but the heat radiating from her pores was like an internal inferno. She thought she may just combust if Jamie continued to stroke her skin so adoringly.

Lost in an amoebic stupor Claire closed her eyes as memories danced before her eyes and flooded her mind of that very first occasion. They had shared another bath together, on another occasion, in another place and time. She had joked about the thought that a hot bath had nearly tipped the scales for her returning to her own time, but there really was nay contest, she would always return to Jamie. He was the love of her life … her soul mate … her destiny. However, her surprise at the Abbey when Jamie had taken her to the hot springs filled her with the most wonderful thoughts. She still remembered vividly the words Jamie had spoken and the intonation of his voice rang in her ears as if it was only yesterday.

~*~*~*~*~

_“A hot bath, mo chridhe.”_

He’d watched me intently in the darkened cave waiting for my reply and impatient to know my thoughts. I knew Jamie was on tenterhooks about the answer I would give and spoke again his voice was quite raspy with anticipation and pride. I could hear his bated breath echo in the cave as he spoke again.

_“Do ye like it?”_

The emotion in my eyes was transparent for I couldn’t hide how this romantic gesture had affected me. My eyes had gone from the rising steam to Jamie’s eyes, impatient for my answer then back again to the warm water. _Had I liked it?_ It had totally overwhelmed me and I’d cussed in that all too familiar way Jamie was used to hearing.

_“Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ.”_

I knew Jamie was relieved at my answer as he too was overcome with emotion. _“Oh, ye do.”_ My wonderful husband was grinning from ear to ear at the success of his surprise and his infectious smile had me beaming as well.

_“Come in, then.”_

Although the light in the cave was dim, I could make out the very masculine torso of the man I loved. I watched fascinated and enthralled at the sight of his superb naked body as he dropped the gown he was wearing to the floor without preamble or flourish. Although the darkness surrounded us, I could still make out the outline of his skin as he stood in all his magnificent glory in the dim light of the lanterns flickering in glimmering reflections on the water. It was so quiet in the cave and the only sound I could hear was the beating of our hearts and the gentle lapping of the hot spring water trickling over the rocks surrounding the pool. The darkness seemed to swallow what little light there was but it was enough for us to see each other and enable us to find a way down into the water without tripping.

_“How hot is it?”_ I asked as I nonchalantly dropped the robe I was wearing as well. 

_“Hot enough,”_ he responded in jest. _“Dinna worry, it won’t burn ye. But stay over an hour or so, and it might cook the flesh off your bones like soupmeat.”_

_“What an appealing idea.”_

I saw Jamie smile at me and with a complete trust in his unspoken words I followed his tall imposing figure as he led the way down to the hot springs. Steam rose from the water and I could feel my curls react to the humid conditions in the cave. They immediately stuck to my neck and I knew instinctively that they were a riot of tangled curls on my head moistened by the steamy conditions. My body was already flushed with the heat as I tentatively placed my foot into the water. Looking over his shoulder back at me following him, Jamie reached out his hand and I took it as I ventured further into the warm water. One after the other my feet touched steps cut into the stone leading down underwater. With one hand in Jamie’s and my other grasping the knotted rope handrail I felt the warmth and smoothness of the water caress my body. It was wonderful. 

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As I let go of Jamie’s hand the warm feel of the liquid water surged up over my hips. The sensation took my breath away and I gasped and sighed at the same time. It seemed like forever that I had been able to immerse myself in to the welcoming warmth of a bath and the hot springs was the nearest best thing to heaven I could feel. It was sheer bliss. The flesh across my stomach quivered in the most wonderful delight as the warm water lapped at my skin and the heat of the water swirled through my body. My feet eventually felt the sensation of a different texture. It was sand beneath them and I wriggled my toes into the wet silicon grains. It tickled and I laughed out loud. Jamie watched me and saw the utter delight on my face. 

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I continued further into the water until I was nearly submerged. The water was just below the level of my shoulders; I ducked down once wetting all of my body and the tresses of my hair floated around me as I lowered my head into the hot spring water. Slowly I rose up again. My skin was flushed with the warmth. I felt a little lethargic and my body seemed to feel weightless. I could also feel small beads of perspiration form on my forehead and the back of my neck … but I didn’t care … not one little bit. The water dripped from my hair onto my shoulders and my voluptuous breasts bounced and floated in the water with a mind of their own. I closed my eyes in sheer bliss and contentment. 

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~*~*~*~*~ 

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The here and now was what was important. Claire could feel Jamie rotate his palms over her aroused breasts as he danced his fingertips down between her breastbones and then lower towards her nether regions. He dipped his hands below the water, across her stomach and lower, ever lower to where she ached for him. 

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“Mon nighean donn,” Jamie whispered in his wife’s ear, opening his mouth to place moist wet kisses to her slender neck while working his way to her nape. 

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Claire’s hitched breath caught in her throat and she leaned her head even closer to her husband’s body. Jamie picked up the sponge, lowered it into the water and then slowly and deliberately began to ease it over his beloved’s glorious breasts drizzling the water in droplets all over them. Fascinated, Claire watched the beads of liquid trickle down her breasts only to disappear into the water again. 

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The steam from the bath water surrounded them in a watery cocoon. Jamie could feel Claire mould into his body as if she was indeed weightless. She felt so relaxed and the things he was doing to her made her dissolve into a liquid puddle of feeling. At first, his wandering fingers just followed the trail left by the glistening water droplets across her breasts. They were deft in their handiwork and the tingling sensation that ensued set off a chain reaction across her nervous system. More electricity currents coursed through her body and Claire wondered if she would ever be able to recover from her husband’s sensual touch. 

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When Jamie captured a small droplet of water that had formed on her nipple, he put it to his mouth as if it was ambrosia from the gods. Claire, however, rose up a little in the water in defeat. She felt a tingling in her groin that couldn’t be ignored. Jamie whispered in her ear trying to pacify the feelings she was having, but to no avail. It was hopeless. She was putty in his hands. 

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Sensually Jamie rolled the moist sponge down Claire’s thigh, around her knee and ever so gently insinuated it along her inner thigh until he was poised at her hidden opening. His wandering hand dipped towards her most private place, and his fingers touched Claire lightly as they trailed behind the sponge. One finger, then two inched inside her body, until she squirmed under his touch, lost in sheer bliss. 

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"Ja-mie,” she whispered, with a voice husky and sexy with emotion and longing. ”I want you.”<

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“No, a ghraidh … not yet.”

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He caressed her face lovingly with his other hand and Jamie’s thumb stroked her dampened cheek while Claire leaned into his hand. He cupped her cheek gently. Again, and again he drizzled the warm water over her breasts until she arched her back in the supreme ecstasy of the sensation. Her flesh tingled all over. Claire leaned back cupping his head with her hand and tangled her fingers in his riot of curls, which had sprung free with the moistness of the warm water. The sponge dropped from his fingers as Jamie caressed her breast tenderly, slowly stimulating her aroused, hardened nipples with a feather like delicate motion. Claire pressed a kiss to his palm, and sensuously drew his fingertips into her mouth capturing them with her moist lips.

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She turned her head so that they could see each other. Their eyes locked with an intensity that stunned them both. Overwhelmed with passion for her love, Claire pulled him to her and they kissed deeply, hard and long, with all the desire they possessed for each other, lost in a world of their own.

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“Ahhh … Jamie … my Ja-mie!” she sighed.

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The guttural sigh escaped her mouth only to be captured by Jamie’s mouth in an intoxicating kiss that would have caused steam to rise in the bathtub. Her arms encircled his head bring her husband’s sensual mouth to her own devouring his lips until she couldn’t think.

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~*~*~*~*~

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With closed eyes and lost in the sensation and sheer bliss of the warm water caressing my skin, I didn’t feel Jamie’s presence until I felt the rippling effect of tiny wavelets making my body more buoyant in the water as he made his way back over towards me. Next thing I felt was the touch of warm hands as they cupped my breasts from behind while softly smoothing the hot water over the upper slopes. Bending forward and planting a kiss on my shoulder then neck, I could hear the joy in his voice when he spoke against my ear.

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_“Do ye like it, mo nighean donn?”_

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_“It’s wonderful! It’s the first time I’ve been warm all the way through August.”_

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I leaned back into him and surrendered to his hold of me in utter trust by letting my feet float out from under me as I rested against his body. Backing back slowly through the water Jamie began to tow me. I stretched my legs out in front of me floating like a cork on water as my beloved drew me through the warm water backwards then forwards. His grip never faltered and I felt so safe and secure in his arms. The water permeated across my body like a blanket of warmth as the caressing hands of my husband held me close to his heart. I was in nirvana and hoped that he would never stop, but eventually he did.

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Jamie swung me around and lowered me gently on to some hard wood seat in the water over to the side of the spring. I relished the fact that I was able to sit down for a while and recover for the hot springs had zapped all the energy out of me. I felt lifeless for the warmth had made my body go limp that I felt that I might easily float away had Jamie not been there with me. Bless him. He sat down beside me stretching his arms out on the rocky ledge and with his legs floating out in front of him.

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_“It does feel good, doesn’t it?”_

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_“More than good,”_ I replied happily.

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We were very quiet for a long time, then because the water was so buoyant, we were half floating, half sitting, half dreaming and brushing every now and then against each other. Our eyes connected with a look of knowing wonder and something bordering on lust. The atmosphere was electric. Time stood still for both of us, until Jamie reached out his hand towards me and moving ever so slowly drew me close to him. The sensitive tips of my breasts rubbed across his chest. I felt his heart skip a beat in syncopation to my own. Without severing our gazes, Jamie lowered his hands gently sliding them down my back to cup my buttocks. I shivered in anticipation as he lifted me up.

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~*~*~*~*~

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Deftly, Jamie lifted and turned Claire into his arms until she was facing him. The look on his face made her utter a little squeak of need, for the look she saw in her husband’s eyes was so full of love that she was caught … trapped in his gaze. His piercing look sent shivers down her spine and she could barely contain her actions. The bath water clung to his skin, rivulets of moisture winding a sensual path through the hills and valleys of Jamie’s lean, hard muscles. A seductive grin graced his face as his wife’s look caressed his features only to turn molten when she felt him in all his glory.

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“Do that again.”

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“What again?”

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“That little nose ye make.”

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“I don’t make noises.”

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His masculine legs parted and Claire placed hers on either side of his and in so doing opened up her body to his in wanton yearning. Jamie pulled her closer and closer until he was poised at her wet opening. Claire groaned again unwittingly and emitted a low keening moan. Incoherent sighs caressed his ears and the sounds Claire made resonated straight to his heart. He’d always loved the small noises she made in the throes of passion and her sighs had never abated over the years. They warmed his heart, those little grunts his Sassenach made when they made love.

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“You just did it again.”

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“I did not.”

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“Aye … ye did Sassenach, and I like it.”

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“Why?”

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“Because when I bed ye, I know that I have served ye well.”

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“Oh…”

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Soothing his brow with her fingertips Claire ran them over his eyebrow in a mirrored imitation of his erotic moves to her own face and temple. Jamie closed his eyes, loving the gentle, soothing touch of his love as she scattered butterfly kisses under the line of his jaw, across his chin and down his neck. Holding Claire tighter to him in response she felt his own moans reverberate against her lips, then when she gave her husband a gentle nip, followed by the soothing stroke of her tongue, Jamie’s moan grew louder.

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“Jamie … I like it too.”

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“Oh … Mo chridhe … I do love you so.”

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He snagged his beloved’s hand, lacing their fingers together and tugged her gently to him. Before she realized his intentions, Jamie dipped his head and his mouth covered hers hot and determined. His tongue pressed against the seam of her lips demanding entrance. A sigh rose in Claire’s throat as she leaned into him, but she wanted so much more. Jamie then traced the outline of his wife’s jaw with a light brush of his fingertips against her skin, with a touch impossibly gentle.

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Every nerve ending in her body came alive instantly and even more vibrantly alive at the contact. Claire’s breasts swelled and the sharp tug of desire in her belly made her damp with need. Ducking his head Jamie brushed his lips over hers in a feathery kiss before letting her go. He relaxed, closed his eyes and a peaceful languid feeling filled his body.

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Running her hands down her husband’s chest Claire circled his hardened nipples and rotated her fingertips around and around. He sucked in a breath for the touch of her fingertips to his sensitive nipples was excruciatingly pleasurable. Jamie opened his eyes and watched Claire intently as she glided her hands across his wet chest. She looked at him with a wanton smile and moved against his body. She could see in his eyes that his pleasure was her; it aroused her more than she had words for.

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Jamie captured her gaze with eyes blazing with arousal and darkened with burning desire. Suddenly strong hands captured hers and placed them to his mouth; while he shifted his body closer still to Claire’s opening. She moaned against her beloved’s lips, as her hands clawed his shoulders pulling Jamie closer to her. Running her hands up into the riotous, wet curls of her husband’s hair, Claire pressed her lips to his fiercely, her moaning growing deeper.

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“Jamie … Oh Jamie.”

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Time stood still.

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Passion, glazed eyes captured hers in such a profound look that Claire’s insides melted. Without severing her gaze Jamie held Claire’s hips, and then with one long deep, penetrating thrust he entered her welcoming depths. It felt wonderful to tumble into ecstasy. The feeling was amazing. Opening her eyes, Claire saw that he too was lost in his own feelings of euphoria.

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“Tha gaol agam ort,” he moaned thrusting his hips up at her, imploring Claire to start their rhythm.

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The world around her, faded into oblivion as she welcomed her love deep inside her body and succumbed to Jamie’s subliminal touch as they joined in total abandonment. The feel of him joined with his wife was overwhelming. Every coupling with the woman who held his heart filled him with a joy he could not explain. Claire was his life. She was his everything. He loved her with an all-consuming devotion that had no beginning or end. Claire was the only woman who held his heart in her hand.

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“Claire … my Claire …” he murmured.

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Jamie’s muffled words of endearment were uttered gutturally and echoed in the silence of the bathroom. A sigh of satisfaction escaped his mouth as Jamie looked at his wife with complete and utter devotion. His eyes were heated and glazed with lust for the woman he loved to the depth and breadth of his body.

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~*~*~*~*~

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The buoyancy of the water tossed our bodies to and fro until we drifted over one another all hot and slippery. I placed my arms around Jamie’s neck and our eyes connected, captivated by a mutual intense gaze towards each other. We barely felt the sensation of our touching; it was as if we were floating on air. However, I suddenly gave a little moan of surprise, as a small inrush of hot water accompanied his entry into my depths. I barely felt his entrance but the feel of my husband inside me was so intimate and beautiful. He filled all my senses until I was overcome with longing.

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Jamie raised an eyebrow in mirth and masculine pride and smiled as I settled more firmly onto him. _“Oh, I like that one,_ ” he said approvingly.

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_“Like what?”_

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_“That sound that ye made … That little squeak.”_

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Despite my flushed skin, it wasn’t possible to blush any more, but I still did at his words. I blushed; I know I did, for I could feel the extra warmth in my cheeks. It felt as though they were glowing. I knew if I were to touch my cheeks, my fingers would feel as though they were burnt. To cover my slight embarrassment, I let my hair swing forward to conceal my face from Jamie’s gaze. My curly tresses touched the surface of the water and snagged on Jamie’s chest.

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_“I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to be noisy.”_

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Jamie was thoroughly amused by my actions and laughed heartily. The deep baritone sound of his laughter ricocheted off the walls of the cave and sounded like the cacophony of a joyous chorus.

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_“I said I like it. And I do. It’s one of the things I like best about bedding ye, Sassenach … the small noises that ye make.”_

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With merriment still lacing his voice Jamie pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me tightly until I felt my breasts squash against his chest. Heat immediately sprang up between our bodies and we both felt the trickle of moisture pool on our skin in all the places where we touched. I rested my forehead against his neck sighing in contentment but again the humid conditions in the cave, because of the steam, had made our bodies clammy. Nestled against my love, I felt only safe in his intimate embrace. A keening sound escaped from my lips when Jamie moved his hips, for I felt his penetration deepen within me. I held him tightly and inhaled a raspy breath.

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_“Yes, like that,”_ Jamie whispered softly against my forehead.

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I gave another stifled gasp when he started to move within me.

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_“Or … like that?”_

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“Oh Jamie …” I moaned feeling the wonderful sensation of his rocking movements.

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_“That’s what I thought most about,” he said drawing his hands up and down my back. “In prison at night … I thought of those small tender sounds that ye make when I love you, and I could feel ye there next to me in the dark, breathing soft and then faster, and the little grunt that ye give when I first take you, as though ye were settling yourself to your job.”_

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His erotic words were having a profound effect on my libido. I knew exactly how he felt, for whenever we came together, we were insatiable for each other. Separation from him was the hardest thing I had to endure when he was in Wentworth and now, I knew the extent of his suffering I was glad that he had those memories to sustain him. My breathing was laboured and was definitely coming faster. The raspy sounds of oxygen being inhaled and exhaled were coming from his mouth as well as mine. I tightened my grip on the curved muscles of Jamie’s shoulder and no doubt my fingernails left welts in his skin. I didn’t care though as I held on to my beloved. There was no way that I would float away from him for Jamie’s hands cupped my buttocks propelling me closer in our snug joining below.

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I groaned.

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I was falling to pieces.

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_“Even better …” His voice was a hot murmur in my ear, “When I come to ye fierce and wanting and ye whimper under me, and struggle as though you want to get away, and I know it’s only that you’re struggling to come closer, and I’m fighting the same fight.”_

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Jamie’s dexterous hands slowly explored the soft cheeks of my derriere gently sliding over the mounds, caressing them while at the same time reacquainting his hands with the feel of my backside. The glide of his hands through the water and across the silken skin of my buttocks was heavenly. I moved pressing myself as close as I could to his groin. He stirred within me. Then, when his fingers touched me intimately where we were connected, I trembled uncontrollably. I was on the verge of capitulating. His touch was torturous. What breath I had left escaped from my lungs in an unwilled gasp.

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_“Or when I come to you needing, and ye take me into you with a sigh and that quiet hum like a hive of bees in the sun, and ye carry me wi’ you into peace with a little moaning sound.”_

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~*~*~*~*~

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Water splashed over the side of the bath but they paid no heed, nor cared. All Claire knew was that Jamie was perfect … she loved the way he felt inside her and she loved the way he made her feel. Taking his hands in hers she thrust her head back and closed her eyes as a deep sigh escaped her mouth. Jamie watched intently as his beloved’s breasts thrust forward, her nipples extended in arousal. With her damp hair cascading over her shoulders like a wanton siren, he was captivated by the sight of her body before his eyes. Then Claire began to rock moving in the age-old rhythm of togetherness, while keening moans gushed from her lips as she surrendered to the moment.

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She leaned forward until her hands rested on Jamie’s chest. He stroked his hands along her lithesome thighs up to her waist digging his fingertips into her skin. Smiling down at him, Claire watched the emotions cross her husband’s features. He was a man in the anguish of desire. It was written all over his face. Their passion filled eyes took inventory of each other as each of them caressed their mate in admiration. Claire felt Jamie’ skilful hands glide up her stomach and his index finger circled her bellybutton. It tickled and made her laugh.

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He smiled at the sound of her giggle but continued to tease her until she cried out throatily, “Jamie …”

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But he ignored her supplication. “No, mo nighean donn.”

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Nimble-fingered hands crept up her chest until they captured her breast in the palms of his hands. Erotically, Jamie rubbed his palms over the taut nipples that beaded against his skin. Claire closed her eyes as her hands too caressed his torso. All the while Jamie was stroking her body, Claire was moving her hips in a slow rocking motion. His hands seemed to be everywhere and she wondered where they would rest next. Jamie lowered them until they stroked the skin of her back. By doing so he propelled his beloved forward and her dishevelled hair fell down and caressed his face with the wispy strands of brown tendrils wet from the bath water and exertion. Suddenly Claire felt Jamie’s hands cup her buttocks, kneading the fleshy mounds of her cheeks. She writhed, wiggling on top of him rocking back and forth as the sensation riddled her body.

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“Ja-mie, please.”

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“Not yet mo chridhe.”

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A harrowing moan, caught in Claire’s larynx almost choking her in an effort to escape from her throat. She was completely incapable of speech, incognizant and incoherent in verbalizing any intelligent thought or uttering. Her eyes gave over to him possession of everything she was. Jamie read the unsaid message in his wife’s eyes. I am yours Jamie, and yours alone, as surely you are mine!

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_“I mean to hear ye groan like that again,” he uttered as he too felt the stimulation of her movements._

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Pulling his beloved closer Jamie too let out a groan of his own. His Claire was so beautiful. He watched her through hooded eyes and witnessed her falling apart in his arms enthralled by the sensations that were escalating between them. Yet he too was on the verge of losing control. Claire was driving him to utter distraction.

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Opening her eyes, she saw Jamie’s intense, passion-glazed, dilated pupils. With increasing rhythm Claire rose and fell in the dance of love … the one that was food for their souls. Capturing her husband’s hand, she brought it up to suckle on his fingers. Jamie’s eyes were devouring her every movement. He was mesmerized by the wanton woman in his arms. Claire too felt an all-encompassing love for Jamie that filled her heart to bursting and felt her body tingling all over at the sensation of their coupling.

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Jamie grasped his wife’s hips aiding and abetting her movements, until panting heavily, sweat trickled from their incredibly sensitized bodies as they felt every tiny pulsating vibration of their joining. Together they moved one more time only to feel the overwhelming sensation of an impending climax as their bodies began to shudder from the explosion occurring between them.

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Claire fell forward onto her husband’s glorious chest, her breathing coming in short, fast pants. Overwhelmed by their mutual surrender Claire’s lips caressed his ears with the sound of her capitulation. “Yes … Jamie,” she moaned calling out his name yielding to the ecstasy that gripped her.

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Jamie too was breathing erratically, and fell back in the bath with Claire cradled in his arms whimpering and lost in the bliss of their surrender.

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~*~*~*~*~

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_“Jamie,”_ I said huskily my voice echoing off the water, _“Jamie, please.”_

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_“Not yet, mo nighean donn.”_

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Although Jamie was teasing me with his words, he could see that I was desperate to consummate our coupling and bring it to fruition. Suddenly I felt his arms encircle my waist with purpose. They surrounded me completely and then I knew why. Jamie settled me into position and ever so slowly pressed me down until I groaned in earnest. The guttural sound reverberated around my throat until I couldn’t contain it. The sensation of our coupling had me in a tailspin of feelings.

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_“Not yet. We’ve time. And I mean to hear ye groan like that again. And to moan and sob, even though you dinna wish to, for ye canna help it. I mean to make you sigh as though your heart would break, and scream with the wanting, and at last to cry out in my arms, and I shall know that I’ve served ye well.”_

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I felt a rush of overwhelming sensations begin between my thighs which sizzled along my nerve endings. Like a dart shooting into the depths of my belly, I felt euphoric and was floating on air. Sensation after sensation pooled where we were joined. I was overcome with a floating sense of lifelessness that made my arms weak thus causing my hands to slip limply and helplessly off of Jamie’s shoulders. I arched my back like a cat, and in so doing, my slippery, wet breasts pressed flat against the solid feel of my beloved’s chest. I shuddered in the hot darkness and if not for Jamie’s steadying hands I surely would have drowned.

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The warmth of the spring water coupled with the blissful feelings our lovemaking evoked made me feel weightless in the water. My energy had been completely zapped and I felt like the rag doll I had as a child. I was boneless and lethargic but welcomed the sturdiness of Jamie’s chest. I rested my head against him and he held me like a precious baby. I sighed. I moaned in total bliss. I know I made keening noises that bubbled up in my throat for I could feel the accelerated heartbeat of my love with each sound I exhaled. I didn’t know, nor did I care what sort of sounds I was making. The one thing I did know was that I was incapable of any lucid speech.

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That was until Jamie began to move again with purposefulness.

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_“No,”_ I cried out with entreaty. _“Jamie … No … I can’t bear it like that again.”_ The blood was still pounding in my fingertips and throughout my body for his movement within me was an exquisite torture, but one I would gladly endure over and over again.

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_“You can, for I love ye.”_ His voice was half muffled in my soaking wet hair, _“And you will, for I want ye. But this time I go wi’ you.”_

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Jamie was true to his words. He held my hips firm against him carrying me beyond myself with the force of an undertow. I crashed formless against him, like breakers on a rock and he met me with the brutal force of granite my anchor in the pounding chaos. Making love with my husband here in the hot springs was cathartic for him and for me. It was a new beginning for us and was the first step in Jamie’s healing. I loved him beyond all reason and he made me love him even more, if indeed, that was possible. He had finally reconnected with his soul at the Abbey and the love of him was my soul.

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I was boneless and felt just like the liquid of the water that surrounded us. The only thing that held me to my Jamie was his hands. I was cocooned to his body in the frame of his strong, purposeful hands. They held me safe and secure in the molten liquid of the hot springs. Then with his one final thrust, I felt myself falling into an abyss of ecstasy. I cried out, the soft, bubbling half-choked cry of a sailor sucked beneath the waves.

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Despite my own stupor, I heard Jamie’s own cry, helpless in return, and I knew I had served him well.

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~*~*~*~*~

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Sated, they lay in the now cooling water of their bath lost in thoughts of what had actually occurred between them. A simultaneous moan of happiness escaped their lips voicing their confirmation of everything they had shared. Jamie held his Claire’s limp body closely against his chest, their eyes connected while resonating in the enjoyment of what they had experienced finally filtered through to their brains. Jamie smiled at his beautiful wife and a grin appeared on his handsome face, lighting up his darkened, blue eyes. Claire whimpered against him for her desire for her husband never seemed to abate and burned deeply within her being.  
“Jamie” she murmured, “I … love… you.”

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“And I … love … you,” he replied.

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Kissing her lips tenderly Jamie reluctantly scooted Claire forward, stood, then stepped out of the bath as his wife gripped onto the side of the bath bereft at his loss. Water fell from his body and dripped onto the floor in a puddle. Claire watched her husband’s every move through lidded eyes as she leaned her forearms along the rim of the bath waiting for whatever he may do next. Her eyes locked on her love filled with incredible tenderness for him. She couldn’t look away from the most magnificent specimen of manhood of her husband’s body glistening with water droplets from the bath as he stood naked beside her.

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Jamie smiled into his beloved’s eyes and he leaned down to kiss her neck and shoulder nuzzling his lips against her skin. He could taste the scent of the bathing lotion that must have infused into Claire’s skin as the taste lingered on his lips.

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"You are so beautiful Sassenach,” he said as he stroked her face with a loving embrace, so gentle that Claire leaned into his touch.

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His touch and words filled her heart with joy and she in turn captured his very gaze into her soul, revealing a love for him so transparent and evident on her face, that Jamie was mesmerized.

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“So are you, my love, so … beautiful … to me.”

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As she spoke, two strong hands reached for her as Jamie lifted Claire to her wobbly feet. Holding her steady with one hand, he took a towel and gently wrapped it around her wet body with the other. Then ever so gently he picked her up in his strong arms. Nestled against him, Jamie leaned in and inhaled the fresh, wet smell of his wife’s hair absorbing her scent into his pores.

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Claire in turn, breathed in her husband’s masculine scent at his shoulder and ran her tongue over it. She adored the odour of his skin, and she could also smell the scent of desire, which permeated her nostrils. She could feel its infusion radiate into her body and soul. Her husband was a conjurer and she would be forever under his spell. Jamie said nothing but gave Claire a nipping little bite to her exposed skin teasing her unmercifully yet again. Already in a state of utter joy after having shared a bath and made love with her beloved, Claire nestled even closer in his arms. She was exhausted but coherent enough to know the deep abiding pleasure in his possession. Claire felt an overwhelming love for Jamie that filled her heart to bursting.

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Breaking away from her husband’s kiss in surprised elation, Claire moaned, and captured his very gaze into her soul, revealing a love for him so transparent and evident on her face, that Jamie was mesmerized.

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“Cl-aire … my Sorcha … How I do love ye,” he answered as he carried her from the bathroom into their bedroom.

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~*~*~*~*~

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Jamie and I found it difficult to get out of the hot springs. We struggled upwards out of the water damp and steaming and feeling rubber limbed with the heat from the spring and the humidity of the cave. The water had been wonderful and therapeutic, not to mention our watery environs had been the most liberating and magical place for two people in love to reconnect. I felt the aura of a calming stupor invigorate my body from what had occurred between us in the hot springs. I know Jamie felt it too, because our lovemaking had taken us to a higher plane of connectedness. We were happy, so very happy and it showed in our countenance. I couldn’t stop smiling and neither could he. When I looked towards him, I saw that his face was serene and at peace with the world.

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We eventually made our way to the first landing, but I stumbled and fell to my knees. Jamie tried to stop my fall but when he reached for my hand in order to help, he too fell down next to me in an untidy heap of the robes he was carrying and the entanglement of two pairs of bare legs. We lay on the ground helplessly laughing while tears of merriment ran down our cheeks. Not only were we lethargic from our bathing but now we were incapable of standing because we were laughing so hard.

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The sound of our combined hilarity filled the cave and reverberated back at us which only made us laugh even more. Drunk on laughter and love, we virtually crawled our way side by side on hands and knees up the second flight of steps. It was more a hindrance than a help as we jostled each other in a playful manner, pushing and elbowing one another in an attempt to make our way upwards. It was nigh impossible to move together on the stairs we had descended, as they were a little narrow for two and with no handrail in sight to grab hold of … we only had each other. Our bumping together was in jest as we each tried to gain the higher ground. It was difficult, as not only were we high on happiness, Jamie was also carrying the robes we had worn, while my incessant teasing of him nearly caused him to drop them in the darkness.

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Finally, we made it to the second landing where we collapsed into each other’s arms. Jamie held me close and we lay clasped together, arms around each other. He placed a kiss to my forehead and then to my lips as we lay on the ground our damp skins cooling in the winter air. We lay there for some time just holding each other as we waited for our racing hearts to slow down and for our breath to return to normal in our heaving bodies.

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A small window above us was the only source of illuminated light and the silver beams of the January moon washed over us. The sight of the stately orb was awe inspiring as the moon nearly filled the whole area of the window. It seemed to have magical powers and its light drew us to it like a moth to a flame. It seemed so close that we could almost touch it. I moved my eyes from the light and rested them on my husband’s face.

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_“I have a gift for you too,”_ I said suddenly to Jamie, a little apprehensive of his reaction.

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He turned towards me and his hand slid, large and sure, over the flat plane of my still-flat stomach. _“Have you now?”_ he said. His voice held an emotion I had not heard before. His eyes gleamed with happiness and taking me into his arms once more kissed me long and tenderly until we were both breathless.

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And the world was all around us new with possibility.

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~*~*~*~*~

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**Author's Note:**

> This picture is a *Manip by @sassylover-stuff


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